What I would say to somebody who's unsure if they have what it takes to be an advocate is that anyone can be an advocate. It can take place in so many different forms and all you have to be willing to do is to share your knowledge, your passion, your commitment to the cause. Get out there and inform people.

The biggest accomplishment I feel we were able to make over the course of this fellowship was just the expanded network that the fellowship provided for me not to only connect with folks in my state, but also people in a broad network across the country.

 I would say to someone who is unsure, there are so many ways to advocate if you are a behind the scenes person, if you are in front of one person, there is somewhere for everyone to excel with advocacy.

I wanted to move to a place of influence. I wanted to be able to advocate for our population at a higher level and even be able to. To put forth movements that would allow more funds to come into our, into our state, for adult education because I recognize the connection that it has with a healthy society, a healthy community and a healthy economy.

What inspired me to become a part of SAAEF is that I wanted to learn to exercise my voice in more of a collective impactful way for the greater good of all of our adult learners.

I did a video and Facebook shout outs. And coming back and people were asking on Facebook and they were asking in person, what were you doing? Why were you there? What were you talking about? And you know that opened up many avenues as far as being able to tell them, you know, I am with the organization COABE and I'm a state advocate for adult education and what we were doing was advocating for funding for adult education

So I don't know if I necessarily call Um, fF Why was I inspired to be a it an accomplishment, wondering if they have ...

My biggest accomplishments were finding allies in the field. And also finding a little bit more about what was going on in my state and in the country, and about other resources that I had no idea about before.

I can confidently say that you do have the skills to be an advocate and really what it takes is your energy, your passion, your willingness to just share the story of the work that you do.

I'm most proud of the fact that we now have 13 new Student Ambassadors in Louisiana, and they're an enthusiastic group and ready to go.

First and foremost, if you were serving in any capacity in the adult education field, you are an advocate, whether it's teaching in the adult classroom, whether it's leading an adult education organization, whether it's counseling an adult student proctoring GED exams, you are an advocate.

I think one of the biggest accomplishments during my SAAEF fellowship was the Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. That's nothing new to Delaware, but this year we were able to get more proclamations than we have ever gotten before in the past.

What inspired me to become part of SAAEF is that I have a lot of students in my population that come from struggles, very similar to struggles I had myself growing up, and they felt very frustrated with the system and all of the rules and all of the things that were out of their control. So part of the reason I joined SAAEF was to not only advocate for them but also to help learn how to encourage and help them advocate for themselves.

We're able to collect advocacy survey data from our state really for the first time, narrowing in on who have people talked to in terms of the legislators. What have they done during AFL week? What they had asked for, what did they advocate for. So using that data, it really helps us determine what groups do we really need to reach out to, what do we need to hone in as a state agency or a state organization to get more professional development to our members on around advocacy.

If you love Adult Ed and you want to know more about Adult Ed and get involved. We need you, get on board, get involved.

When we went to go see the governor, he was impressed with who we brought to visit, he continued to support us at that moment. And we have seen a return in investment of 57 million from just educating our students and taking them out into the job force.

 I was inspired to join the SAAEF group because I wanted to deepen my knowledge and my skill base around adult ed advocacy so I could really serve the state of California, our educators, and our advocacy efforts in ways that were impactful, differentiated, and scaled. And I also wanted to use this opportunity to connect our educators at schools doing grassroots advocacy to the critical high level legislative relationship building and law crafting work that COABE and our adult organization in the state of California, the California Council for Adult Education, connecting those two groups from the bottom to the top and top down so that there was more value our members could see in what they're getting from the organization and how they can engage better and do the work as well.

So my most important accomplishment, I think for me was going to DC  during Adult Family Literacy Week. [...] It was a it was a big accomplishment for me because there are many times that we are afraid to get uncomfortable, at least I am, and I was like, you know let's do it!  Let's get uncomfortable. That's the only way we're gonna learn and grow, right?

So I think my biggest accomplishment during my SAAEF fellowship was I wrote an op ed, and it was actually published in my local newspaper and also the Hartford Current said they would publish it as well.

When I think about the inspiration of joining SAAEF, it's to learn more, be the best advocate I can be for adult learners. Also our politicians, our elected officials, they need to know what it's like to be a new American, what it's like to be an adult learner without a GED, that we also help native born Americans. Our elected leaders and leaders in the community just need to know what it's like for for people who come to our community to get started, to be successful, and then to in turn become financially successful, and also integrated into our community. 

Becoming a South Dakota Adult Education and Family Literacy Fellow has been an incredible opportunity to advocate for a cause I'm so deeply passionate about -- lifelong learning and literacy for all. I've always believed that education is the most powerful tool people can use to transform their lives, not only for themselves but for their families and communities. 

I think one of the biggest accomplishments for me was my work within the advocacy committee on our state association board. I've been a member of our state association board for 4 years now. And this fellowship has really given me the opportunity, to lead our advocacy committee, which has been huge. So with the training, and the resources that COABE provides, we've really been able to look at advocacy collectively through a new lens, and I'm excited to see where that work can continue to go. 

Getting my GED later in life really inspired me to the call of advocacy, which led me to the SAAEF Fellowship.  Which really I wanted to step into more of the political side and view it on a different lens. Most of my advocacy had been institutionally done, so I really wanted to apply to SAAEF to be part of something a little bit bigger.

I've seen firsthand how critical it is to provide access to quality education and support for adults who are seeking to improve their lives and achieve their goals. So being part of this fellowship  has helped me to amplify those voices through sharing, collecting and sharing student success stories across the state, reaching out and being in touch with the state director, and pushing for systemic changes through, policy advocacy. 

If you're ever feeling unsure about stepping into advocacy, remember this, you are enough. Too often we let our doubts block our own success. Don't hold yourself back. Start right where you are and let the world know about the incredible work happening in and around adult education across the United States of America. Your voice matters and your passion can spark real change.

Education is the key for individual growth and community progress, and I am passionate about advocating for policies that expand access to quality adult education programs. SAAEF offers the perfect opportunity to amplify my efforts, learn how to collaborate with policy makers and advocate for adult education on a larger scale.

My most significant achievement during the fellowship occurred during Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. Following proclamations from two county commissions and two city councils in our service area, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a statewide proclamation for AEFL Week, then hosted state-level staff and representatives from programs around the area to honor the Idaho ABE Teacher of the Year and Idaho ABE Student of the Year. It was an awesome celebration. 

I was excited that I wrote my legislator this year, and she actually wrote me back and that was just interesting to see that one letter that I took some time to write was actually read and I was able to see what was going on on a global level. So I was just excited to see that with the tools that I was given within the fellowship, I was able to make an impact that went all the way up to a state and federal level.

I would like to say that if you are passionate about what you do in adult education and for whom you serve, then you already are an advocate. And well done. Thank you for everything that you do and for your efforts, and for the time that you spend, for going that extra mile. 

Try something that you've always thought of, possibly go outside your comfort zone a little bit. Remember, being an advocate means being a little inventive. It doesn't necessarily mean being experienced in this particular field, and that is the field of advocacy, especially for adult education. 

My biggest accomplishment as a fellow was establishing a stellar dynamic team for the state of Wisconsin. They showed up, they were positive and moved from just being me to we.

Advocacy takes a lot of different forms, and I think that one of the really valuable things I'm reflecting on after this fellowship is that from the beginning I had skills and knowledge that allowed me to advocate in some ways, and as I went through this fellowship, I gained others that I was very afraid to utilize.

To someone unsure if they have what it takes to be an advocate, I would remind them that advocate is a noun and it's a verb. It's a noun in that it is a person that is an advocate, but it's also a verb in that it's what you do, you advocate.